the pen

source: http://www.thegoldenmean.com

The Photoshop Pen Tool - conclusion

What’s Next

“What?” you say, “there’s more?”

Oh my dear, we have only tickled the tip of this iceberg, looking at a very useful but narrow application of the Pen Tool used in the graphic arts and prepress. Adobe’s documentation might be a good next step. I encourage you broaden your Pen Tool horizons by reading Warjournal’s excellent tutorial on stroking paths which literally brims with potential and will most certainly open all sorts of new doors for you. Those who own Illustrator as well as Photoshop are further encouraged to explore the astonishing synergy that the two applications in tandem are capable of. Paths swap back and forth between the two perfectly and, if you can believe it, Illustrator’s Pen Tool has even more capabilities than does Photoshop’s! One high profile artist combining Illustrator and Photoshop to stunning effect is the photorealist computer artist Bert Monroy. Be inspired.

Just in case you haven’t dipped into the manual, let me tell you that the Adobe documentation is very thorough. It may be a little dry, but after having plodded through this tutorial you’ll know enough for the illustrations in the manual to make more sense. Adobe goes into more depth than I have, and presents the information differently. Please take the time to read this portion of the manual — I promise you will learn many useful things!

Be assured that, as there are so many techniques the Pen can be used for, I have most certainly left someone’s favorite out. They are invited to write the next chapter!